ELECTRIC MOTOR COOLING ANALYSIS USING NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENAL TECHNIQUES

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ELECTRIC MOTOR COOLING ANALYSIS USING NUMERICAL
AND EXPERIMENAL TECHNIQUES

Background
Pressure Tap Locations
Cooling of automotive- type electric motors is
critical for efficient performance, increased
product life, and cost effectiveness.
Objective
Experimental air flow chamber schematic
To determine if CFD is adequate to resolve the
flow through the fan support hub as well as the
motor itself. The simulations will be validated
with the experimental measurements taken from the
flow chamber.
Electric motor currently under investigation
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Research Carried Out
Simulations have been conducted comparing
different hub configurations at various flow
rates and rotational speeds with favourable
static pressure results to the experiments.
Pressure loss measurements of the motor have also
been simulated using similar flow conditions with
well matched results.
Simulated flow field through electric motor
Key Findings
To date, CFD has proven to be reliable at
replicating the experimental data. Thus, it is
feasible for new designs to be tested and
optimized using virtual techniques before costly
prototypes are built and tested.
Pressure field on half of fan support hub. Red is
high pressure, blue is low.